The Sophists
4th and 5th century B.C.E
The Sophists of the 4th and
5th Century B.C.
 Sophistry means practical wisdom.
 The first two sophists were: Corax and Tisias
(the crow and the egg).
 in an oral culture, sophists professed to teach
the art of virtue, or excellence. This
excellence was political as well as moral, so a
great part of the training dealt with the use of
the spoken word.
 Most of the sophists were non-Athenian, and
traveled to earn their living.
Sophists
 although they had some general features in
common, they ascribed to no central authority-formed no particular movement or school
 Kairos was a key sophistic concept. It is the full,
present context, the speaker, audience and the
moment. The sophists taught students to grasp
the situation, to manage the situation and turn it
to their purposes.
 one of the questions of importance was: does
excellence in society come from nature or by
teaching and training
What did the Sophists
teach?
Arete or virtue rather then birth right.
Nomos or conventional agreement as
opposed to thesmos (kings) or physis
(natural law) or logos (theory).
Antilogike or counter argument.
Criticisms of the Sophists
Epideixis or memorized speeches.
Help build the middle class.
Techne for the citizens.
Can make the lesser case appear the
stronger case.
Criticisms/Critiques
 were commonly charged with possessing
"cleverness”--the ability to turn an argument.
 Plato, in particular, criticized them for being
argumentative--arguing for the sake of argument
and not interested in the search for truth;
 teaching in an authoritative rhetorical fashion-delivering their speeches but not answering
questions; denying absolute value of morality;
and for claim to know what they did not know.
 Aristotle criticized them for self contradiction and
shallowness of thought
Three Great Sophists
Gorgias
Protagoras
Isocrates
Gorgias
 came to Athens from his Sicilian home in 427 B.C. as
an ambassador.
 set up a school in Athens, teaching such subjects as
ethics, civic duty, and public speaking.
 Known for the "Gorgianic style," a way of speaking that
attempts to raise the level of spoken prose (an
approach that would have a great impact in a nonliterate, oral culture): "I shall not relate the story of who
won Helen or how."
 Gorgianic style combines a metrical, lyrical delivery
with complex clausal structures to produce a
somewhat sing-song quality
Gorgias
Three part beginning point:
Nothing exists.
If anything did exist, we could not know
it.
If we could know it, we could not
communication it.
"On Being" or "On Nature."
 nihilistic skepticism--Nothing exists, he claims. Or, if it
did, it would be incomprehensible. Or, if it is
incomprehensible, it would be incommunicable.
 Some scholars see a direct connection between this
ontology and epistemology and the rhetorical principles
that follow from it.
 If nothing exists and we can't know it or share the
knowledge if it did, then the only reality we can know is
that which we create through discourse.
 However, "On Being" may also be read as a sophistic
exercise. It may have been a playful exhibition of
Gorgias' cleverness
Famous For:
Incantations
Style
Supernaturalism
Antithesis, see Herrick p. 43
Encomium on Helen
 was a show speech, a way to attract students to his
school.
 point of the speech is moot; after all, Helen is long
dead.
 text is highly organized in a tight, logical sequence.
 here Gorgias claims seductive powers for language.
 Words are seen as having incantatory and narcotic
effects on an audience.
 Even the divine is subject to the power of speech.
 Words are like wizardry, and persuasion is akin to
abduction by force.
Encomium on Helen
important as
 an example of Sophistic oratory;
 an example of Sophistic pedagogy (in that
Gorgias is reported to have taught by
example rather than by precept); and as
 a statement of the Sophistic belief in the
power, or force of language to lead
Encomium on Helen
imagine how this would appeal to
prospective students, young men eager
to hone their persuasive abilities.
• imagine too how Athenians grew
suspicious of the sophists, worrying that
they were corrupting the youth.
Protagoras
 the first to charge for his services as a teacher
of political virtue.
 famous for asserting that "Man is the measure
of all things," a relativistic and humanistic
position. Thus, sophistry is associated with
appearances (as opposed to reality).
 Also known for his concept of dissoi logoi (Gk.
"different words"), the idea that there are two
contradictory sides to every issue.
 would have his students practice giving
arguments on both sides
Protagoras
 These exercises in declamation were
supposed to be so effective as to render the
student capable of "making the weaker cause
appear the stronger," another of Protagoras'
supposed claims.
• This theory, and the practice that grew out of
it, became an issue in the debates between
Socrates and the sophists, as we will see.
Isocrates
Thematic and Practical
Civil minded
sought the unity and expansion of
Greek culture
 believed in the general superiority of
Greek culture
So why were they hated?
 Politics or “Elect me.”
 Is there a God? The watch or threats
argument.
 Who should rule? Best talker or birth?
 Professional juries?